Around 310,000 consumers who signed up for health insurance through the federal Obamacare exchange will lose their coverage if they don’t document that they are U.S. citizens or legal residents by Sept. 5.

In May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found citizenship or immigration data-matching errors for 970,000 people who enrolled for coverage through the federal marketplaces. About 450,000 of these cases have been resolved, and another 210,000 cases are being reviewed. The agency sent warning letters to consumers who haven’t responded to the agency’s earlier requests for documentation.

“We want as many consumers as possible to remain enrolled in marketplace coverage, so we are giving these individuals a last chance to submit their documents before their coverage through the marketplace will end,” said CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

These warning letters are a reminder that the actual number of people who will receive insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s new exchanges may end up being far less than the 8 million CMS touted in May. Besides immigration issues, an undisclosed number of people who received government-subsidized insurance have income verification issues that still need to be resolved. Plus, states that run their own insurance exchanges are handling data-matching issues separately.

Questions also remain as to how many people who signed up for coverage through the exchanges actually have paid their premiums. A survey of insurers by the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that only 80 percent of those who selected a plan on the federal exchange had paid their first month’s premium by mid-May. Investor’s Business Daily reported that Aetna projects only 70 percent of those who selected a plan will be fully enrolled and paying premiums by the end of the year.

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